Andy Rice profiles Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, Spain’s most successful sailing pairing as they attempt and their plans to try for a third Olympic medal in Weymouth next year, just weeks after finishing the nine month, 39,000 nautical mile Volvo Ocean Race.

With no clue of the drama which would ultimately befall them on the first Leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, Ken Read’s PUMA Ocean Racing crew were one of the most well prepared in the weeks leading up to the start in Alicante, Spain. Sail Racing Magazine editor Justin Chisholm, jumped aboard for one of their final tune up sessions a few days before the opening short course in-port race.

When your two favourite things in life are sailing and computers, the role of offshore navigator surely beckons. Such is the case for Norwegian Aksel Magdahl, navigator aboard Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya,the first ever Chinese entry in the Volvo Ocean Race. Agathe Armand sat down with Aksel in Alicante before the start of the race to find

out how he combines his two passions so effectively.

Ian Williams added the Monsoon Cup to his third ISAF Match Racing World Champion crown after the British sailor defeated Johnie Berntsson 3-1 in the final of the World Match Racing Tour’s finale event in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Ewe review the second half of the season and take a look at William’s Monsoon Cup victory.

he boats don’t look much bigger than the sailors and seem awfully small for a transatlantic crossing. Nevertheless the Mini Transat is universally accepted as the de facto breeding ground for the next generation of singlehanded offshore sailors. We take a look at the class and the latest edition of the race.

Despite the ferocious reputation of past Volvo Ocean Races, few people could have predicted the drama and carnage endured by the fleet on the first leg of the 2011-12 edition. The six teams which set out from Alicante, Spain bound for Cape Town, South Africa were arguably amongst the best funded and prepared in the race’s history and yet, by the time the leg concluded, half the fleet had retired, leaving just three boats able to complete the course. In our special feature we bring you the inside track on this memorable first leg.

All this and much more...